ORCHESTRA OF THE SWAN: SHIFTING LIGHT

The Warwick-based Orchestra of the Swan’s (OOTS) mid-month concert takes its audience on a journey through the seasons of the year.

Shifting Light uses Vivaldi’s Four Seasons as the framework of a programme that also includes works by, among others, Tchaikovsky and Fleetwood Mac. 

The 90-minute concert features in OOTS’ Swan Sessions programme. The initiative typically sees between three and eight players from the orchestra performing in a relaxed and intimate setting. 

St Nicholas Church, Warwick, Thursday 19 February

ENGLISH SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

The Worcestershire-based English Symphony Orchestra gets its teeth into the work of Mozart and Beethoven for its mid-month Malvern concert.  
The former’s effervescent Marriage Of Figaro overture kickstarts proceedings, with the latter’s Second Symphony bringing the evening of musicmaking to an exuberant and humorous close. 
Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto - performed by the orchestra’s principal clarinettist, Alison Lambert (pictured) - and Hans Gál’s Serenade For Strings also feature.    

Malvern Theatres, Thursday 19 February

CBSO: HAYDN'S NELSON MASS

Joseph Haydn’s Nelson Mass was one of six masses written near the end of his life. The work is reflective of a period of terrible turmoil for Austria, during which the country was under serious threat from Napoleon Bonaparte’s army. 

However, around the time of the mass’ first-ever performance - in mid-September 1798 - news filtered through that Rear-Admiral Horatio Nelson’s British fleet had defeated the French Emperor at the Battle of the Nile. The mass’ triumphant conclusion seemed like a perfect musical celebration of Bonaparte’s defeat, a fact which saw the composition become forever linked with Nelson and his game-changing victory...  
Alongside the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra’s performance of the work, this mid-month Symphony Hall concert also features Beethoven’s third piano concerto. 

Symphony Hall, Birmingham, Thursday 19 February

CELIA MARGALEF BOQUERA PIANO CONCERT

Widely lauded for her impressive ability to blend immaculate preparation with seemingly spontaneous performance, London-based Spanish pianist Cèlia Margalef Boquera visits Shrewsbury to contribute to St Alkmunds’ free lunchtime concert series.

St Alkmund’s Church, Shrewsbury, Tuesday 24 February

CBSO: KORNGOLD & PROKOFIEV

This late-month City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra concert features three musical responses to world events. The programme commences with Iman Habibi’s Zhiân, a work composed as a  reaction to state brutality in Iran. 
The 10-minute piece is followed by Erich Wolfgang Korngold’s Violin Concerto, written in 1945. Korngold had vowed to compose only film music until the Nazis were defeated, so the concerto was written  in response to the end of the Second World War.
The concert’s final work is Prokofiev’s Fifth Symphony, premiered in 1945. An optimistic composition, it was interpreted by many as a symbol of victory in the war.

Symphony Hall, Birmingham, Wednesday 25 February

THE ROYAL PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA

Since its formation 80 years ago, the RPO has operated under the directorship of some of the world’s most respected conductors, Rudolf Kempe and Andre Previn among them. 

Based in the beautiful surroundings of Chelsea’s Cadogan Hall, the orchestra is no stranger to the recording studio, regularly laying down soundtracks for films and enjoying a long partnership with many of the major commercial record companies...

The RPO’s late-month concert in Coventry features three works: contemporary composer Samy Moussa’s mournful Adgilis Deda; Strauss’ Four Last Songs, written when the composer was 84 years old; and Sibelius’ Second Symphony, perhaps best known for its triumphant closure. 

The orchestra is joined for the concert by multi-award-winning South African soprano Masabane Cecilia Rangwanasha (pictured). 

Kevin John Edusei, the RPO’s conductor-in-residence for the current season, is the man with the baton.

Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry, Friday 27 February

Image credit: Vera Elma Vacek

HALLE ORCHESTRA: TCHAIKOVSKY'S PIANO MASTERPIECE

The Manchester-based Halle is renowned for its affinity with English music, but here turns its attention in different directions; namely Strauss’ Serenade In E-flat Major and Brahms’ Fourth Symphony. Tom Borrow (pictured) stays over from his Piano Masters recital the previous day to perform Tchaikovsky’s first Piano Concerto.  

Victoria Hall, Stoke-on-Trent, Friday 27 February

Image credit: Yoel Levy